God Has Made The Light Shine

Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. . . . For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:4, 6

SATAN AIMS to blind our children’s minds so they will be “unable to see the glorious light of the Good News.” How does he intend to do this? “He is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Satan is always lying to us and to our children. The lies take different forms in each generation, but the overarching strategies have been essentially the same since the Garden of Eden. He casts doubt on God’s Word and God’s goodness, and he throws logs on the fire of our own desires to be somebody and to be in charge of our own lives.

Satan seeks to prevent our children from ever thinking deeply about things that matter, so he inundates them with what is entertaining and interesting but ultimately trivial and meaningless. He makes it seem normal to be completely obsessed with themselves and with what other people think and say about them. He magnifies the voice of the world that insists to our children that they are captains of their own destinies and that they must make something of themselves.

So what hope is there for our children growing up in this world with such a powerful force at work against them? It is this: “God, who said, ‘Let there be light in the darkness,’ has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.” As we read, talk about, and expose our children to God’s Word, the light shines and “the darkness can never extinguish it” (John 1:5).

Lord, I know that the only way anyone is ever converted is that you cause the darkened soul to see the beauty of Christ in your gospel. I can’t generate the kind of light that is needed to convert anyone. But you can. So we ask you to shine your light brightly into our home that we might see your glory!